Jet streams; rapidly moving air that moves at the upper level of the atmosphere, northeast trade wind otherwise referred to as harmattan and coupled with the altitude of Jos, the Plateau State capital has made the city the coldest in the country with temperatures as low as 6.7 degree Celsius, the National Centre for Remote Sensing stated on Friday.
Temperatures in Jos and parts of the north and central parts of Plateau State dropped to 9 degrees Celsius on New Year’s Day and has continued to drop in the early hours of Friday morning, sparking heightened lamentations from residents across the state.
“Water from the taps is extremely cold, we have to warm it before drinking. Sachet water, when bought from vendors is cold and you would have thought they were refrigerated,” said Ibrahim Pam, a Civil Servant in the state.
“We have experienced extremely cold weather conditions between Thursday and Friday and from my assessment, the temperature this year is colder than what we experienced in 2019,” he said.
However, the Head of Unit, Hydrology, and Climate (Water Resources) at the National Centre for Remote Sensing, Onoja Desmond in an interview with Daily Trust said; “As on Friday morning, the lowest temperature recorded was 6.7 degree Celsius in Jos which is 7 degree Celsius. It is below the temperature in London because London recorded 9 degrees Celsius. This means that Jos is colder than in London.”
He said because jet streams are found at the upper level of the atmosphere and Jos is on a higher altitude of at least about 1,200 meters above sea level, “the altitude has made it very close to jet streams and that is why we are witnessing cold weather at this time. At our micro-climate here in Jos, we are witnessing as low as 7 degrees Celsius and even 6 degrees Celsius while in the day time, because of the sun in the atmosphere, it will rise to 11 to 20 degree Celsius.”